Qatar likely to host mediated Hamas-Israel truce talks

Cairo: Qatar will host mediated talks between Hamas and Israel aiming to finalise an agreement on a truce this week, Egyptian security sources said.

Representatives from both parties will later travel to Cairo for further talks aimed at reaching an agreement on the timing and mechanism for executing any deal, including hostage releases, the sources said.

The first pause in fighting, in November, saw the release of around half of the 253 people Hamas seized during an October 7 cross-border killing spree that sparked the war.

In that deal, Israel freed three times the number of Palestinians from its security prisons and admitted more humanitarian aid to Gaza.